I notice a lot of far right reactionary types fail to comprehend when they read my columns. This is a trait common to the breed; when the thesis presents arguments supported by evidence they don't like, they "react", disregarding the evidence and lashing out at the thesis.

Comes Pete Borden, an aforementioned far right reactionary, with his latest assault on another one of my columns (Friday's is sure to commence Pete's blood to boiling), this time on my essay concerning the failure of the Republican-led House of Representatives to pass re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

"In Kevin Foley’s column of last Friday, the 15th, entitled 'Women second class citizens in GOP’s world', he used scare tactics intended to frighten women."

Well, Pete, women should be scared if the tools to protect them from domestic violence no longer exist. Somebody has to warn them.

Pete: "The 1994 version of the VAWA did very little to address the problem, which is a real threat to women."

National Association of Attorneys General: "Since its passage in 1994, VAWA transformed the response to domestic violence at the local, state and federal level, reducing domestic violence rates by 50 percent."

Pete: "Of course, what Mr. Foley fails to mention is that the program is still in effect, so nobody is in danger yet."

17 House Republicans: “Now is the time to seek bipartisan compromise on the reauthorization (Pete does not understand that reauthorization means VAWA was allowed to expire so it's not "in effect").

Pete: "What he also failed to mention is that the GOP controlled House passed its own bill eliminating the changes made by the Senate. The Senate has not approved that bill (Pete doesn't understand that the Senate doesn't "approve" House bills. It reconciles House bills with Senate bills and vice versa. The House bill excluded protections for same-sex couples and battered undocumented immigrants - Pete also doesn't understand that "illegal alien" is considered a racial slur by many Hispanics and Latinos).

Foley column: "This week, Republicans in the Senate helped pass a VAWA bill, 78-22 with all 20 women senators (Republicans) voting for the bill. The legislation adds protections for gays, lesbians and immigrants."

So, what we have here is ill-informed opinion clashing with inconvenient facts. Thanks for playing, Pete.

Over-the-top patriotic demonstrations at sporting events reached a new low this weekend, when servicemen and women were on exhibit at Pebble Beach during the PGA tour stop there.

There was something vaguely obscene about watching an enlisted person earning a little more than the poverty level standing at attention while a bunch of rich kids played golf for a $6.5 million purse.

We're supposed to feel humbled by these young people who "protect our freedom" on the sunny shores of the Monterrey Bay, where some of the nation's wealthiest 1 percent enjoy undisturbed splendor in their heavily guarded and gated enclaves.

We're supposed to pay homage to the sacrifice and dedication of those service personnel while, at the same time, we watch people named named Brandt, Keegan and Tag smack a little white ball around for the entertainment of corporate swells ensconced in their hospitality pavilions swilling fine wine while whining about paying a few percentage points more on their income taxes.

We all know how these guys really feel.

Mitt Romney gave voice to their disdain of the 47% who don't pay taxes. That number includes, by the way, most of the same enlisted men and women they were "honoring" at Pebble Beach.

As long as he breathes, CBS seems determined to trot out the doddering Clint Eastwood as the face of the tournament, who eclipsed his performance as the Man With No Name with his shamefully embarrassing Obama chair-talking shtick during the Republican National Convention last summer.

Like Romney, Clint evidently has it in for the president and those working poor and disabled folks who don't make enough to pay income taxes, let alone afford the price of admission to cruise 17 Mile Drive through Pebble Beach.

I wonder how those enlisted men and women felt about being used as props by a giant TV network making a pile of advertising dollars, or if the sad irony ever occurred to any of them.

Maybe they should have asked for a slice of that CBS pie, but that's not how it works in Carmel, where such uniformed folk are perceived the same way the gardener or delivery man are regarded, hired help to be seen but not heard.

Those servicemen and women, you see, have an important role to play in the CBS show when the camera cuts away and we see them, naively unaware of being exploited, shaking hands with a series of millionaire golf pros who were instructed to recognize them, look grateful, and then move on to the next tee. Thus, the PGA, CBS and the viewer all bask in the reflected glow of their selflessness and heroism. Meantime, their commanding officers and entourages enjoy free admission to the shindig.

Ostentatious military displays have become de rigueur at televised sporting events. We used to sing the Star Spangled Banner and let it go at that.

Now, we must have fighter jet fly overs, American flags the size of the field, the singing of God Bless America at half time, and, of course, soldiers, sailors and marines in uniform to remind us that "freedom isn't free," never mind that all the jingoistic showboating renders real patriotism cheap and real courage meaningless.

But the offensive travesty at Pebble Beach gets first prize for its naked hypocrisy not to mention its showcasing of the symbolic economic wall between the have mores and have almost nothings.

@DA: In order to have an opinion, one need not serve in the military. My brother served in the military and he doesn't have the sense to have a opinion. Others have served in the military because no one else wanted them. What's your excuse DA? You have mentioned your military service a number of times and not once did I ever feel that we were safer because of it.

I love Paul Broun. I dearly hope he wins the Republican senate primary in 2014. I'll even vote for him because there are very few politicians in these parts who could make Phil Gingrey and Tom Price look positively moderate.

Tea partier Broun is a conservative.

No, wait, Broun is beyond conservative. He's an extremist.

But that doesn't quite cover it either. Broun can be described at the rarest of breeds, an extreme reactionary, so far out on the right wing fringes, not even Karl Rove can stomach him. In fact, Rove's Conservative Victory Project is promising to smother candidates like Broun in the crib before they get a chance to run.

Broun says science is Satan's work even though he practices a profession firmly rooted in the physical sciences like molecular biology and physiology. At least I think he does. Fortunately, I'm not a patient of his so I won't have to find out if he's bleeding the sick with leeches.

If Broun were running for pope in the 13th century, he'd have a very good chance of winning. In 2014, as a United States Senate candidate out of the benighted corner of Georgia from which he hails, he will probably even attract votes from the snake handlers, tongue speakers and willfully ignorant in those parts.

But as a statewide candidate, even in Georgia, his views will likely be judged, well, a teency bit too radical.

"God's word is true," said Dr. Broun. "I've come to understand that. All that stuff I was taught (at the University of Georgia and Georgia Health Sciences University) about evolution and embryology and the big bang theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of hell. It's lies to try to keep me and all the folks who were taught that from understanding that they need a savior."

House Speaker John Boehner certainly liked what he heard because he appointed Broun to - of all things - the House Science Committee, where he will help oversee the nation's policies on things like global warming, green energy, the environment, DNA research, and space exploration.

Yes, I know, it seems like an awkward fit.

"You see," Broun told a religious group, "there are a lot of scientific data that I've found out as a scientist that actually show that this is really a young Earth. I don't believe that the earth's but about 9,000 years old. I believe it was created in six days as we know them. That's what the Bible says."

Serious scientists like physicists and geologists beg to differ, but they pretty much all agree the mountains of research they've collected over the last century or so proves the earth is actually 4.5 billion years old.

They also believe Darwin's theory, while a theory, is far more conclusive then evidence on which Broun is relying.

The big bang theory? Who knows? The Lord acts in mysterious ways.

“In order for (a Democratic victory) to occur, you have to get a decent candidate on the Dem side," Democratic strategist Stefan Turkheimer told Real Clear Politics. "But you also have to get someone coming out of the Flat Earth Society...on the Republican side, who’s seen nationally as being ridiculous.”

Sarah Palin, the far right's darling, lost her soap box last week after Fox News let her contract expire.

It was a great ride while it lasted for the half-term Alaska governor, who was chosen by John "Country First" McCain as his running mate when the senator ran for president in 2008. It looked like a bold game changer at the time but it ended up backfiring on McCain. Big time.

Rather than attracting tens of millions of evangelical and women voters to the ticket, Palin almost single handedly destroyed McCain's presidential campaign, revealing on the trail her utter ignorance of important issues of the day and her contempt for serious reporters who refused to toss the would-be Veep softball questions.

When memorably asked by Charlie Rose to discuss the controversial Bush Doctrine, covered extensively by Fox and every other major news media outlets, Palin had no clue what the newsman was talking about.

Fortunately, Palin could rely on Fox News and others in the right wing media to prop her up through one public catastrophe after the next while she whined incessantly about those bad people in the "lamestream" media asking her "gotcha" questions.

Palin was a huge embarrassment, a monumental mistake, but the conservative and even some mainstream media continued to cover for her, spinning Palin as a maverick hockey mom who would cut through the Washington B.S. if she became vice president.

Thankfully she didn't.

The notion of a vapid, empty headed dolt anywhere near the nuclear codes was scary enough when W was president. That someone like Sarah Palin could have been just a heartbeat away from them was truly terrifying.

After McCain's failed bid, Fox News' boss Roger Ailes rushed to sign Palin to a big contract and put a camera in her Wasilla, Alaska home, where she could opine about the events of the day with incisive wisdom like "Nancy Pelosi is a dingbat" and, President Obama is surrounded by "Chicago thugs."

Palin did her part, mouthing racist gems like, "President Obama’s shuck and jive shtick with these Benghazi lies must end."

Ailes must have gotten the message because he finally let Palin go. For her part, Sarah now says "conservatism didn't lose" in 2012 and that she no longer wishes to preach "to the choir." Instead, she promises to "shake up the GOP machine" in the months ahead.

@DA: I think you are too sensitive. The conservative movement needs the criticism, Bobby Jindal has explained why, ie, "Stupid Party". Without criticism, there can be no improvement, perhaps over the next 12 years the GOP will change enough not to be so insignificant on the presidential stage. The GOP decided to elect a tired old man with tired old ideas as their presidential candidate in 2008. That candidate then compounded the already failing campaign by picking Sarah Palin as his running dope. Just a brilliant move. In 2012 the best the GOP could do was Mittens and another toxic running mate. You don't see the need for criticism? OK, stay where you are and don't change at all.

Pete Borden and other MDJ bloggers and columnists insist the government is coming to take their guns. This is a National Rifle Association-pushed paranoid fantasy and it's not new.

Every time the conversation turns to sensible gun safety legislation, as it has in the wake to the Netwon massacre, the NRA trots out its minions to flog the phony "gun freedom" line.

NRA board member and aging rock star Ted Nugent is the latest surrogate to mouth off. He's threatening armed insurrection, although as we'll soon see, Nugent has no appetite for real combat.

"I'm part of a very great experiment in self-government," proclaimed the self-enamoured gun slinger at a recent convention, "where we the people determine our own pursuit of happiness and our own individual freedom and liberty not to be confused with the Barack Obama gang who believes in we the sheeple and actually is attempting to re-implement the tyranny of King George that we escaped from in 1776. And if you want another Concord Bridge, I got some buddies."

And I've got the bus that will transport Nugent and his pals to Concord Bridge if they really want to face off against our armed forces. Maybe Nugent can do a show before the shooting starts. I'd pay to see the concert and the gunplay.

The Nuge, speaking for the NRA's Wayne LaPierre, has made no secret of his organization's contempt for Brack Obama, blaming the president for every evil imaginable.

"But here is what is wrong with America today," Nugent goes on. "We have a president, and everybody better write this down, and memorize this. The president of the United States goes to the Vietnam Memorial Wall and pretends to honor 58,000 American heroes who died fighting communism and then he hires, appoints and associates with communists. He pretends to pay honor to men who died fighting communism, and then he hangs out with, hires and appoints communists. He is an evil dangerous man who hates America and hates freedom. And we need to fix this as soon as possible."

Ah, Vietnam is it? Let's see, Nugent is of an age that he would have been drafted and likely had his opportunity to play Rambo in Vietnam.

But alas, this tough guy pooped his pants and generally abstained from all personal hygiene for more than a month before showing up at his draft board, where he was promptly rejected for service. Nugent nevertheless has the temerity to refer to America's real fighting men as his "borthers in arms."

This is the same punk who said at the NRA's annual meeting that he would be "dead or in jail" if President Obama was reelected to a second term, earning him the attention of the Secret Service.

Nugent backed down, of course, and probably pooped his pants again when the Service knocked on his door.

I'm getting the message, catching his drift. Pete Borden doesn't like my opinions because they don't mesh with his own puny worldview. To Mr. Borden, when I'm not "lying" I'm a "coward."

Really? Here I present progressive push back every week in the hard right conservative stronghold of Cobb County, putting my real name to my real words, but I'm gutless.

Mr. Borden suggests I waited until Boortz's last day on the air suggest "Mighty Whitey" was a nasty, elitist bigot. But what better coda could there be to Boortz's disgraceful career, polluting the public airwaves with his disgusting brand of minority-bashing.

Forget that Boortz was a complete bore, a tasteless, unfunny, uninteresting radio gabber. I simply used Boortz's own comments in my column, which is limited to 600 words. I could have filled the MDJ with Boortz's bullying attacks on people who couldn't possibly defend themselves, such as the Katrina survivors Boortz called "garbage" or Muslims he described as "cockroaches."

That's the dictionary definition of coward, Mr. Borden.

Mr. Borden reveals much about himself rushing to Boortz's defense. His listeners - and evidently Pete Borden LOVED Neal Boortz - must have affirmation and, as I noted, only the willfully ignorant, delusional, racist or paranoid would waste their time listening to Boortz or people like him.

The pro-gun crowd received a nasty black eye last week when one of its more, um, zealous members posted a video on YouTube promising to kill people if sensible gun safety legislation is enacted.

Like a lot of these cardboard cowboys, James Yeager wears prison-style tats on his arm, badass chin spinach, and a bald dome. Yeager looks oh so threatening and lethal, not unlike a con on death row. But, as we'll learn, he's really just a big pussy cat.

Yeager bills himself as the CEO of something called Tactical Response in Tennessee, where he apparently teaches people how to play with their guns and sells them gear designed to make them look like soldiers. Yeager says he's a former Big Sandy, Tenn. (pop. 556) cop and claims he spent a couple of years in Baghdad as a hired security gun. Whatever.

In his YouTube video, Yeager goes on a spit-flying rant using some language his mother would probably disapprove of:

"F*** that! I’m telling you that if that (sensible gun safety measures) happens, it’s going to spark a civil war, and I’ll be glad to fire the first shot," he barks into the camera. "Load your damn mags!" and "get ready to fight!" Then he adds this: "I’m not f***ing putting up with this. I’m not letting my country be ruled by a dictator. I’m not letting anybody take my guns! If it goes one inch further, I’m going to start killing people!"

It's all a lot of hot air, of course, but it earned Yeager some notoriety he didn't want. The state of Tennessee suspended his weapons permit and he appeared in a second video this week, chastened, sitting next to his lawyer and sounding less like a raging prison inmate and more like a regretful drunk driver.

"I said some pretty volatile stuff which I apologize for. I do not in any way advocate the overthrowing of the United States government, nor do I condone any violent actions towards any elected officials. It's not time to shoot anybody. What it is time to do is to organize politically, contact our elected officials and help steer the ship the direction that we want it to go.The way to do that right now is via letters, via emails, some phone calls to your elected officials."

Yeager may not have the courage of his convictions, but there are a lot of his types out there ready to pull the trigger, perhaps on a classroom full of little kids, or in a theater full of patrons, or a college campus, or a church, or a shopping mall. They're mad as hell and they're not gonna take it anymore!

The gun lobby is circling the wagons as public outrage grows over the slaughter of 20 small children and 6 educators in Newtown, Connecticut and President Obama weighs his executive power options to reign in runaway gun violence.

In the wake of the massacre, in which Adam Lanza shot his victims to pieces with a Bushmaster assault rifle, a CNN poll showed that 62 percent of Americans favor a ban on assault rifles and high capacity magazines. Nine out of 10 Americans want background checks on all gun sales.

In response, the National Rifle Association has dug its belligerent heels in, rejecting even discussingthe possibility of any sensible regulations.Instead, NRA mouthpiece Wayne LaPierre blamed entertainment violence for mass murder, but not firearms like the kind Lanza and his fellow mass murderers used to kill their victims.

LaPierre seems not to know the NRA museum recently featured “Hollywood Guns,” described on the NRA web site as “…a firsthand glimpse of some of the most famous firearms on the silver screen over the last 70 years.”

Included is the .44 Magnum Smith & Wesson Model 29 “Dirty Harry” Callahan used in spectacularly graphic style to off scores of movie bad guys.

Then there are the weapons used in Quentin Tarantino’s bloodbath, “Reservoir Dogs,” along with the suppressed Remington 11-87 used to slaughter the innocent and guilty in “No Country for Old Men.”

When he doesn't like what I write, Pete Borden likes to call me a liar. He has again leveled a charge that I lied in my recent column on the need to make gun safety part of the public safety discussion.

Here's his incendiary statement (emphasis added):

"Foley makes the erroneous statement that you can walk into almost any gun show and buy 'assault weapons', high capacity magazines and ammunition, no questions asked. I will not dignify that by calling it an untruth. I will call it what it is. It is a bald faced lie. Dealers at gun shows are bound by the same regulations requiring background checks, as they are when they are in their places of business. Since Foley is only parroting something he has heard, I have no way of knowing whether he is aware of that or not. But, I repeat, the statement is a lie."

Again, Mr. Borden, unlike you, I am far too good a writer and commentator not to do my research before speaking out on an issue.

From the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence web site, here's the breakdown on the so-called "gun show loophole":

Though commonly referred to as the “Gun Show Loophole,” the “private sales” described above include guns sold at gun shows, through classified newspaper ads, the Internet, and between individuals virtually anywhere.

Unfortunately, only six states (CA, CO, IL, NY, OR, RI) require universal background checks on all firearm sales at gun shows. Three more states (CT, MD, PA) require background checks on all handgun sales made at gun shows. Seven other states (HI, IA, MA, MI, NJ, NC, NE) require purchasers to obtain a permit and undergo a background check before buying a handgun. Florida allows its counties to regulate gun shows by requiring background checks on all firearms purchases at these events. 33 states have taken no action whatsoever to close the Gun Show Loophole.

Mr. Borden again shoots himself in the foot playing ready, fire, aim. Nice try, Peter. I'm waiting for my apology.

I wonder if the Second Amendment crowd has ever considered what armed insurrection against the "tyrannical" government they imagine actually looks like?

Let's, for fun and enlightenment, extrapolate. It's 2025 and the new president, Newt Palin, decides citizens have too much freedom. Together with his allies in Congress, he passes the New Patriot Act, a cleverly named piece of legislation that strips away most civil rights. President Palin justifies this law by telling Americans they are "in danger."

A band of patriots in Cobb County rises up, organizing themselves into a militia. Their plan is to revolt and attack federal buildings and installations.

But President Palin is also the commander in chief of the armed forces, so he has the most powerful military machine in the world to back him up. And because he is a conservative, he also has the support of the senior generals in the Pentagon.

Word of the Cobb County patriots reaches the president, who orders the military to go on high alert. Armed with their ArmaLites and Glocks and led by Charles Gregory, the Cobb County patriots climb into a Ford 150 pick up truck and head toward the Russell Federal Building in Atlanta.

A Predator drone has been orbiting Cobb County and a turncoat patriot has provided intel on the plan to attack the Russell Federal Building. The Predator zooms in on the pick up truck full of patriots speeding down Atlanta Road and releases a Hellfire missile, immolating everyone on board before they can fire a shot.

The moral of the story, folks, is that it is no longer 1776. Your semi-auto and auto weapons are no match for the mighty military you support. Your notion of citizens standing up to a government you believe is tyrannical is as quaint as it is absurd.

Luckily, we have a division of powers in America. One branch of government keeps the other in check. The military is controlled by the civilian government. We're also a nation of laws, so the need for an armed insurrection is highly remote.

So before considering a revolt, you Cobb County patriots should stop and ask yourself if your real problem isn't with our representative form of government that lawfully passes legislation the majority of Americans wish to see enacted.

*We welcome your comments on the stories and issues of the day and seek to provide a forum for the community to voice opinions. All comments are subject to moderator approval before being made visible on the website but are not edited. The use of profanity, obscene and vulgar language, hate speech, and racial slurs is strictly prohibited. Advertisements, promotions, and spam will also be rejected. Please read our terms of service for full guides